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While most of his teammates did an off-ice workout at the club’s hotel Thursday, the Senators’ captain was on the ice with Jared Cowen, Eric Gryba, Matt Kassian and Robin Lehner at a suburban arena.

After sitting out the club’s 4-3 OT loss to the Los Angeles Kings Wednesday night because of a nagging groin injury, the Senators want to get back to 100%, Spezza is pushing hard to return Saturday against the Sharks.

The idea of giving him the game off was to make sure he can play against the Sharks and the Anaheim Ducks Sunday in back-to-back games. The Senators would certainly welcome him back with open arms.

“(Spezza) is an elite player in the game,” said winger Chris Neil. “Obviously, having him back in the lineup will be great. Hopefully, he’s ready to go.”

The Senators aren’t intimidated by the fact they are starting with six games on the road. This will pay off later in the season when the club is pushing for a playoff spot, especially if they can continue to get points.

“We’re fortunate we’re on the road night now,” said defenceman Patrick Wiercioch. “It’s tough during the winter months when you want to be at home with your family. This is a great time to get away and get some team chemistry going.

“If anything, we should be thankful that we’re going early and getting them out of the way. Six on the road is going to mean six at home sometime soon. The days off are nice for us to get together and do some stuff.”

Coach Paul MacLean said he’ll take the point they got in Los Angeles.

“I think it’s great anytime you go on the road and get a point,” said MacLean. “On the road in this league is hard to do, we’re halfway through a six game road trip and we’ve got four points out of it. I think we should be pretty pleased with what we’re doing,”

While most of his teammates did an off-ice workout at the club’s hotel Thursday, the Senators’ captain was on the ice with Jared Cowen, Eric Gryba, Matt Kassian and Robin Lehner at a suburban arena.

After sitting out the club’s 4-3 OT loss to the Los Angeles Kings Wednesday night because of a nagging groin injury, the Senators want to get back to 100%, Spezza is pushing hard to return Saturday against the Sharks.

The idea of giving him the game off was to make sure he can play against the Sharks and the Anaheim Ducks Sunday in back-to-back games. The Senators would certainly welcome him back with open arms.

“(Spezza) is an elite player in the game,” said winger Chris Neil. “Obviously, having him back in the lineup will be great. Hopefully, he’s ready to go.”